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HELP A DANE !What to do with 6 weeks in South Africa?

I am trying to plan 6 weeks in South Africa. We will be landing in Johannesburg late februar 2014(the 6 weeks in South Africa is the final part of a 4 months trip ). We are 2 adults and 2 kids aged 5 and 9. We been to Africa before, but never South Africa(exept 7 days in 2007).

I think we will hire a car with camping equipment,we love to camp, you are just so much better connected to nature. I know we don´t need a 4x4 to drive around South Africa, but it seems that if you wanna hire camping equipment, you have too get a 4x4. Anyone know a good reliable car hire company?

I am having a hard time trying to figure our route out. Our main interests are wildlife wieving and just feel connected to nature. At the same time it would be nice to do some activities the kids would like.

Some of the must things in South Africa we know we will want to do is:

spend 8-10 days in Kruger
spend 7 days around Cape Town (incl. Shark Cage Diving, that is the top priority for my wife)
Maybe KwaZulu Natal, incl. St.Lucia, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi

But other than that I am pretty lost. Maybe we have enough time to cross into neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe or Botswana.

I really enjoyed Kalagadi frontier park in the northern cape. Self drive, beautiful landscapes, animals and rustic cabins. KZN also has lots of camping possibilities and except for Phinda pretty cheap. If you want beaches the area from Capetown to George. The other area that campers and fisherman love is the so called wild coast in the Eastern Cape. South Africa has end less possibilities for 6 weeks

kimwhits: Thanks for the input. we have looked at Kgalagadi and it looks stunning, the downside is that it seems far away from the rest of our route. Is there any places particular in KZN that you can recommend??
And I will check out the Wild Coast

I'm not a camper so have stayed in cabins in these places. Check out the South Africa Parks site for places that have camping. I did like the Drakensberg area between Joberg and Durban. You can take a trip to Losotho. In KZN Mkuze is good for birds. There is Tembe Park. Of course St Lucia and Hluhluwe are great. Diving is good in the area south of Durban and St Lucia. I am a diver but don't if the temp is colder than a skin!

You have 6 weeks. You could fly to the airport in the Nothern Cape and rent a car there. They have rustic cabins so you don't have to take much equipment.

Botswana(DWNP) has privatised the most popular campsites in the parks. It is the operators responsibility to maintain the campsites. Some do a better job then others. The Gov't has said over and over again that camping is park of their tourism plan.